ROADTRIPBLOG

Monday, September 11, 2006

Coronado Island and Tucson


We have had a wonderful weekend, visiting our friends Kate and Nick on Coronado Island, then Jim's sister Patty and her husband Lew in Tucson.

Ethan had a wonderful time at the beach on Coronado Island, and I was able to see some of the jewelry Kate, who was a jewelry major in college, has been making. SHe has truly returned to her roots. Take a look on her website at
http://www.islandbangles.com/html/earrings1.htm.
We also had a wonderful Thai meal, and Sunday morning, Nick, who is a fabulous cook, made us a fruit salad in the Mexican style, that is to say, with a squeeze of fresh lime and a mere dash of Pico Guapo, a powerful Mexican chili powder that tickles the palate and leaves you wanting more. Of course, it doesn't hurt when you have access to the wonderful fruits he put in it: fresh oranges, papaya, kiwi, and banana. Delicious!

Leaving Coronado, Jim drives with a vengeance through brown, treeless mountains as if he is going to murder someone. Blame it on the turbo engine, I say. It is six hours to Tucson, and we have already climbed to 3000 feet within half an hour of San Diego. The temperature is 78 degrees and I am down to my last clean outfit. There's not a cloud in the sky.

We descend and stop in Yuma, where it is 98 degrees. Yuma is actually hell itself. We turn off for "travel info" and "historic marker". No travel info in sight, and "historic marker" is actually a rock across from the gas station that says that from 1850 to 1877, when the first bridge was built, pioneers ferried across the Colorado river here. The heat shimmers; Ethan pants; our efforts to find something edible are unsuccessful, and after using what very well may be the filthiest bathrooms this side of the Third World, I get behind the wheel. The landscape is eerie: huge boulders and then, desert and the first of the many giant Saguaro cacti we will see. Something is happening on the horizon. It looks like storm clouds, but in the desert? As we leave Gila Bend, which is an outskirt of hell, tumbleweeds blow across the road, raindrops the size of hubcaps begin to fall, and then we find ourselves in a torrential downpour, hydroplaning all over the road. It is over as quickly as it begins, and we arrive in Tucson without incident. (By the way, Jim has taken over the driving again by now, unable to be a passenger with impending bad weather.)

Patty and Lew's place in Tucson is nothing short of paradise. They have their own Saguaro cactus, probably 150 years old, in their yard, and here in the foothills, it's very quiet and peaceful. We see our neice, Carrie, and her boyfriend Jake, and meet Lew and Patty's new dog, Lady, who Ethan falls immediately in love with. It was a wonderful stop, and were we not going on to Sedona and the Grand Canyon, we'd be hard pressed to leave this beautiful place.

1 Comments:

At 6:55 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey guys, hope you're enjoying the last few days of your trip! We had such a good time seeing you again (and meeting Ethan)!
Love,
Carrie and Jake

 

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